Do you remember that old lullaby?
by Meteor Beat
Summary: A decisive fight against evil leaves Ryoga trapped in another dimension for him it was half an hour, for the rest was 27 years and Ryoga comes back to a world that is not his own anymore, a new generation is there to receive him with more chaos. Oneshot.


**Well, what do we have here, another one-shot, and oh my, what a loooong one-shot, I've been working in this story for several months, and in fact this is another version, I just didn't like the first one, well, anyway, hope you enjoy and don't forget to R&R.**

**-----**

The damn demon was so utterly annoying, it was refusing to die after so many attacks; it was getting into his new found nerves (AKA patience) and his body was taking a lot of damage even considering his inhuman endurance.

It had never been easy for a human to battle a demon, no matter how strong one could grow in strength and ability, a demon's power was beyond human comprehension, the rest of the group in Nerima knew about that after they got the proof of that; it was so ridiculous, they were used to weird things happening around the district (and around Asia considering Ryoga and the Amazon's way of life) called curses, weird martial artists, ghosts and the like, but the bets were off that day, none of them could believe the destruction left behind by that creature.

Everything had started with the normal way, especially for Ranma, be it fighting his father in the morning and duringbreakfast, going to school, fighting Kuno in the way, fighting Mousse at the break, trying to disengage Shampoo of him, trying and utterly failing to not make Akane angry, in fact, the normal things that had become Ranma's life so far, but it only took a mistake to change everything.

Ryoga could remember very well now the name of the young boy who did it; he thought he was summoning a Djin to grant him a wish, it probably could be to have a certain Tendo Akane falling in love with him, poor Gosunkugi never knew what was what came out of that portal since it killed him in one clean sweep of his claws; Ryoga was at the moment lost like usual, but he had been able to find the Nekohanten and order a bowl of ramen when in that moment Cologne lost all color and surprise mixed with shock appeared in her face, an expression Ryoga had never seen before in the old matriarch.

After that the creature went back to China where he had his hidden temple, not without terrorizing Tokyo leaving behind a trail of fire, destruction and blood; it had been so horrible that even the confident and cool mask of Ranma was then turned into one of shock and then rage, just like him; the rest of the group of martial artist were ready to search of the demon but were reminded by a stoic Cologne about the power of the creature and how they would need to train harder than ever if they wanted to have a chance, after all Cologne needed some young power as back-up for the battle of the millennium, it was after all what several religions could consider stopping the Apocalypses.

She explained that the demon never had a name, it didn't needed one, his sole existence was enough, and she was still wondering how that little boy got that book in his hands, maybe the machinations of another demon.

All of them, or at least the ones who weren't completely nuts like the Kuno family went into their travel to China, this time not in the search of a cure for their problems but to, for some of them, what felt like the last fight in their lives; they trained so hard in preparation, even Ryoga got some new techniques from Cologne telling him that he was now holding in his hands 3000 years of Amazon story referring to those techniques and scrolls and when everything was memorized and learned those same scrolls turned into dust to prevent anyone else from reading, and finally, all hell was loose deep in a mountain when the battle for life begun.

-----

"You know Ranma… you were probably… my only friend" Ryoga said with his eyes downcast and the dark bangs of hair obscuring his face, his voice deep and his shoulders tense, all in all it made Ranma more worried.

"Hey, P-chan, what the hell are ya talkin' about? Don't ya dare die!" somehow Ryoga started to grin showing off his prominent canines while standing up slowly, his body felt heavy from the exertion of the fight; thankfully no one had died… yet, Ryoga thought looking around and seeing the cold stone statues around the dark temple, the faces showing something akin despair and fear, the perfect furniture for a place like that and his comrades, Ukyo unconscious, Shampoo using a bombori to stay on her feet, Akane helping Cologne with the last seal and Mousse attacking the demon with a barrage of harpoons while the demon was moving very fast to evade them until one of them caught him by the leg.

It had seemed so easy at first, to attack the demon all of them together, but it was futile at the end it seemed, no wonder even Cologne was so nervous about the whole fight, not even she was optimistic about the results of the fight and in the end it seemed he had no other choice, if the world was going to survive Ryoga had to do this.

"Just… just take care of Akane for me, got it?" he said watching how the wards activated, the stupid demon laughing at them not moving at all, he just didn't care about them, looking so all-mighty with his overgrown arms and claws, his grey and red armored body and his horned head, watching them, smirking, it was something Ryoga was going to take away from his face even if for that he would need his last breath.

The last thing he could hear was his name in the mouth of all of his friends before banishing inside the special portal that Cologne had made with the wards, the demon fiercely trapped on his bear hug.

-----

That had been a little more than half an hour if the sense of time of Ryoga was correct, at least with that one he was confident he thought avoiding a clawed hand leaving another cut in his shirt; even he could get tired, his monstrous stamina had a limit and the demon was surely pushing him against the ropes.

Oxygen was thin in the dimension they were fighting, everything was white, there was nothing there except white and void; it had been created after all to contain the demon, feeding on the energy of his powers leaving the demon weakened, but the word weak was not precisely one Ryoga would have used when referring to his actual opponent; yeah, he was weaker than in the temple, but it was still way ahead in power to Ryoga.

"Did you really think your pathetic wards and plans would have been able to refrain my conquest? Surely you mortals can actually come with some other plan for me, it gets tired to see the same ideas over and over again, it had never been enough for me this endless prison, it only slowdown the destiny of earth and their inhabitants" the demon said with a clear accent and slow voice, like enjoying those same words.

"Damn it, what I needed, another Kuno" Ryoga thought feeling his eyes falling, he was losing consciousness from the blood lost, at least he had been able to stop the creature for enough time, he was now trapped inside with the demon, maybe for all eternity, or what he had left of life "seems like this is the end" he said before looking at the demon getting closer to him ready to give him the final attack, Ryoga could barely stand up and simply closed his eyes resigning himself.

'Don't ya dare die now beacon-breath! We have come so far to give up now, who will spar with me now if you die?' he could feel those voices in his head, it was Ranma!

'Lost-boy too too strong, can no die!' That was Shampoo!

'Come on Ryoga, we own you our life, don't leave this world yet, what about taking revenge on Saotome?' Mousse was also there!

'Who will help me get Ran-chan? Don't die on us, please' Ukyo!

'Don't give up now! We are waiting for you here!' Akane!

'I taught you all those techniques for a reason boy, don't let all that Amazon story be for nothing' Cologne!

'Now Ryoga! Wake up and defeat that stupid monster!' Ranma's words came one last time before Ryoga opened up his eyes ducking under the claws, everything seemed to be in slow-motion, he was focused now while he dashed still crouched surprising the demon and getting into his blind point; Ryoga put his left feet in the ground with so much strength that if they were outside the ground would have been crushed in a small crater; the only thing the demon was capable to see was the once again shining eyes of Ryoga and the left fist getting closer to him and not being able to do a thing against it.

Finally using his crouched legs like a piston he made a short upwards hook, or was it an uppercut? Either way the diagonal punch struck directly at the demon's chin sending his head backwards at the enormous impact while the green energy of Ryoga's fist made the image of a tiger's head.

"Tora Tanjo!"1 Ryoga screamed after doing the attack from one of the scrolls, considering how little time he had to learn it was a miracle in his opinion the results and the damage it had been able to do in his real test but this was far from over "Ryu Sempu!"2 he screamed then using the energy on his legs to short jump getting to the perfect position to unleash the last part of his combo letting out all of his power in one single right straight punch which was shining radiating the red ki that had been such a signature for him connecting against the skull of the falling demon followed by a sound wave from the impact, the sickening crunch of the demon's skull breaking and the red light that took the form of a dragon consuming the rest of the body.

Ryoga could barely stay on his feet after that last attack, his vision clouding once again, but seeing the empty look in the eyes of the demon and the expression he was sure of one thing, he at least had been able to win this time, when it mattered and with that thought in his head it was impossible to hide the grin in his face watching how the demon's body was disappearing.

"Uh, I did it… I really did it guys" was his last words before closing his eyes, his body falling forward while the rest of the demon disappeared turning into pure energy, turning from black to red and before his body could touch the ground of the dimension all that energy went inside of Ryoga and the world simply broke in millions of fragments like a mirror letting Ryoga's body rest in an empty lot of his own world.

-----

Moonlight gathered on a blue knife,

The cross shows who lost a place to go.

For now, with the dream in pieces,

You should go on a journey.

Do you remember that old lullaby?

A story I left behind long ago,

I'll make it into love and sing it for you.

Every man is a lonely soldier boy,

Lonely soldier boy carrying a cross on his back,

The amber colored man's dream, where is it?

DO YOU REMEMBER THAT OLD LULLABY?

-----

Beep.

He felt so weak.

Beep.

But at least he felt at peace like never before.

Beep.

He felt his body so heavy, he just couldn't move an inch, not that he wanted to with so much sleep.

Beep.

How long had he been there? It seemed like an eternity, but his eyes weren't capable of taking images well, everything was so blurry, he could just make out the color white.

Beep.

He could hear voices and steps, but they seemed so far away.

Beep.

Ryoga could finally see something now after so long, it was a white ceiling, and he could hear voices now.

"It is a miracle he survived, really, he had so much blood loss he could have died in the way to the hospital" it was a female voice.

"Well, it would have been a shame, he is quite cute; do they even know his name?" it was another female voice, maybe a little younger than the other.

"No, when they found him there was no identification in him, just his clothes and that weird bandanna in his head, I swear, we took out at least twenty bandannas and all the time there was one under it, it was quite amazing"

"Another martial artist, that explains his body"

"Come on, don't you think in another thing besides boys?" and then the voices were too far away to hear them now so Ryoga started to look around; he was in a hospital room, it was quite easy to know that specially with how much white was, the bed, the walls, even the blinds and the floor were white, and there was also an AV in his left arm; cracking his neck at either side he was now quite ready to stand up, which he did in no time, heck, he even felt quite strong and healthy, really, how long had he been in that bed?

In that moment Ryoga stood quiet remembering his battle, and now he seemed to be in Japan now, how was that? Maybe because he killed the demon with the techniques Cologne taught him? Well, that was one thing he could rub in Ranma's face next time he saw him, but his ideas had to stop for a little time before a nurse went into his room, thankfully he was wearing white pants… only white pants, but that didn't stop the nurse from blushing.

"Oh… wow" she could only say looking at the lost-boy.

-----

It felt fine in his opinion, to be able to walk around again, even thought he didn't have any of his usual garments, he only had a white very generic t-shirt and his pants, besides his shoes and his bandanna he was completely empty of things, his wallet had been in his backpack way back in China, too far for his liking and like hell he was going back there with empty hands, but he was fine, maybe he could go to the Tendo Dojo and wait for the rest of the gang to come back, heck, they were probably worried about him, or already dancing thinking he was dead just like Ranma would do in Ryoga's mind, the lost-boy was fuming silently while several passer-byes watched him walk around, not a single time Ryoga decided to watch the new stores and buildings, not even at the new vid-phones with plane wide screen at the windows.

-----

"Okay, the plan is very simple, I just have to find the Tendo-dojo… easier to say than do" Ryoga said to himself already slightly depressed about his infamous nickname and how right it was, and he wasn't talking about P-chan; just his luck to never find his way around "if I could just find this time the… Tendo dojo" he said with the last words almost in a whisper when he saw in front of him the same building he was looking for, he had luck today it seemed, it was so good to be true, at least for one time he had been able to find it in less than an hour without no one guiding him this time, so happy he was going inside that he never saw the plaque saying Saotome-Tendo dojo in one of the walls.

The trees seemed to be the same as always, except with a new tree at the left of Ryoga, he shrugged thinking maybe Kasumi wanted a new one this time, but it had nothing to do with Ryoga for now; glancing around then he saw a young girl with dark blue hair in a low ponytail sweeping the dead leaves like the times he had seen Tendo-san, she was wearing a yellow skirt reaching to her knees and a white blouse with a draw of flowers in the same tone of yellow as the skirt and flip-flops; the girl was kinda pretty, she was also very similar to Akane, specially her eyes when he had a good look at them when she turned around to look at him.

"Yes? What is it?" she said in a soft very lovely soprano voice while stopping her sweep.

"Ah… well, is Tendo-san around by any chance?" Ryoga said trying not to blush at the girl, it was true that he had finally been capable of forgetting his crush in Akane, but the girl was so gorgeous, it was like a… upgraded version of Akane.

"She is here" she told him making Ryoga arch an eyebrow, she? Akane's mother died when she was a kid, how was possible that? "Okaa-san! Someone is looking for you!" she screamed making Ryoga very surprised about the power of her lungs; that had been amazing for a petite girl like her.

"Yes, yes, I'm going" a female voice said from inside the house making Ryoga skip a beat, he knew that voice, it seemed more… adult, but it couldn't be any mistake, and when the door was opened there was no more doubts, the same hair, just longer like the first time he saw her and the same face, although she seemed older, but there was no doubt, he was looking at Akane "What is it Nodoka-chan?" Akane asked to the other girl while Nodoka pointed out.

"This young-man is looking for you" Nodoka said watching how her mother's face changed from confusion, to shock, then to such a big grin that Nodoka was more than confused about what was going on, she had never seen her mother in that way.

"Oh my god… Oh my god! Ryoga-kun! You are here, you are alive!" Akane was saying before breaking into a run hugging the stunned young man like if her life depended on it "I cannot believe it! Is you! Is you! You are alive!" Ryoga for a few moments felt like in that old black and white American movie, what was the name? Frankenstein? And he didn't felt so flattered, but completely confused about what was going on.

"A…Akane-san, please, what's going on?" Ryoga said trying to disengage from him the now ecstatic woman, never in his life he thought he was going to do that, especially with Akane "I don't have a clue about all this"

"You… you don't know?" Akane said while Ryoga simply shook his head slowly still confused "Well… you still look the same as then, I think it was that portal, but I'm sorry about that, is just so good to know you are alive" Akane said smiling so brightly at him which only made Ryoga more confused.

"Ah… Okaa-san, what's going on here?"

-----

Inside the house it seemed most of the furniture had been replaced for new one, the only thing remaining was the old shogi board and the dinner table, also, the same koi pond could be seen from there like always, but for him everything was like another world while he was waiting in the dinner hall for answers; Akane had went inside the house for a call while Nodoka was in charge of making some tea for their guest; and there she was, the petite girl with a tea tray and a pair of cups, she seemed to be very nervous too.

"Ah… are you… are you a friend of my mother?" she asked in a low voice, if it weren't for the scream back there Ryoga would have thought of that as her normal voice, maybe she was only a little shy?

"Well, yes, you could say that, but I'm not sure of what's going on right now"

"But you look so… well… young" Ryoga was trying to discern if to take it as a compliment before Akane went back into the dinner hall, she was wearing a lovely cream sundress, they were after all her favorites.

"I'm sorry for taking so long, but I had to call my sisters and other people" she said sitting down at the opposite side of Ryoga to look at him better.

"I… Is no problem Akane-san" he said more than a little nervous and confused, things were so weird.

"Is amazing, you look the same as that time, I cannot believe how long is since then now" she said while her face was showing her travel through her memories.

"H-How long has it been since… that day then?"

"Oh, well, it has been 27 years"

"27 YEARS!?" Ryoga said while standing up in one jump, his face was in shock although it was a normal reaction after knowing that.

"Yes, we thought we have lost you in that fight, but I'm still surprised after looking at you exactly as that day"

"Okaa-san… I don't understand what are you talking about" Nodoka said rising a hand.

"Nodoka-chan… do you know why do we have that special shrine at the dojo?" the girl nodded signaling her answer "do you remember what we do every year at this same day?"

"Yes, is a reunion in commemoration of a very special person for all of you, right?"

"Exactly, and do you know why?"

"Yes, because that person was the one who gave his life so all of you could live happy" Nodoka said like if remembering a lesson before her eyes went wide open "do you mean he is Hibiki Ryoga?!" the girl said surprised just receiving a nod with her head of Akane.

"That's right Nodoka-chan" Ryoga was just watching the talk of mother and daughter, but before he could get any answer from them when in that moment it was heard a scream followed by really fast sound steps.

"WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE?" Ryoga heard the voice and could practically know who was the one who said that and the speed of that same person while he jumped over the stone wall was a give away even without looking at the usual Chinese clothes and slightly grey pigtail in that girl "IS REALLY YOU P-CHAN!" his same old rival in a lot of things said with a great grin while he was the victim of another hug, in this case more like a bear hug, but Ranma-chan was hugging him so fiercely that his head was practically buried between the two mounds of flesh of the redhead woman's chest and was losing consciousness from too little oxygen.

"Ranma, behave! Besides, I think you are gonna kill him if you keep hugging him like that!" Akane said making the other martial artist drop Ryoga in a second before the now younger fighter fought for enough air with his face completely red; leave it to Ranma to do something like that.

"Sorry, sorry, but really, Ryoga, is ya, ya're back again, that's amazing!" Ranma-chan kept saying with obvious happiness in her face, and it was completely strange in Ryoga's opinion.

"Are you okay Ranma?"

"I should be askin' ya that, where have ya been all this years? And why did ya look so young? Men, ya look the same"

"What are you talking about? I'm the same; it only seems you got older, what happened all this years? I don't understand it at all; all I know is that I finished fighting with that demon and then I was in a hospital, besides that I'm lost"

"What's new about that?"

"Watch it Ranma, don't start with that, Ryoga has come back at least, you can probably back off with it"

"Geez, sorry Akane, is just so… so cool" Ranma-chan kept saying making Ryoga even more confused.

"Eh, guys, any idea of what's going on?" Ryoga said more than ready to explode at any minute now, he was wanting some answers and he was going to get them, but at least it seemed his words were enough to get the pair away from his usual bicker "and how did you know I was here?"

"Well… ya could said so; Men, now I understand what that old ghoul said after going out of the temple, somethin' about if we had luck we would see ya again someday, and this is the reason" Ranma said taking from her pocket a slime cellphone; right, the future Ryoga thought.

"Ranma's right, tell me Ryoga, how long you were fighting that demon?" Akane asked while Nodoka kept watching them fascinated of what was going on, in front of her was none other than the person who everyone in their group talked about, he was a hero, a legend, and it was there, in their own dinner room.

"Well… half an hour, probably a little less, maybe, but that's all"

"I think I understand what's going on; maybe inside the portal time went slower than outside" Akane said while Ranma nodded at her words.

"Yeah, that'll explain why beacon-breath here still looks like when we were eighteen years old, in fact, that explains everything" Ranma-chan said before standing up going into the kitchen for hot-water; Ryoga meanwhile had went back to the floor looking at the tea in front of him, their words going around his head, the full meaning of that was still to come, but he felt a small part of it, like if he had crashed against a mountain; one look at Akane was enough for him after all to believe it.

"I… I see… so I've been missing a lot of things" he said with a deep voice, he was feeling slightly depressed, but at least he said to himself that at least he was alive, that brought back a little light to his soul, at least they had a good life, it had some meaning, yes, that made him feel better "I guess one of them was your wedding"

"Yes… we would have loved to have you there, especially Ranma, but you were always in our mind, in all of us" Akane said with a smile in her face very similar to the ones he had seen in Kasumi, it seemed she changed not only physically.

"Th-that's good to know; what about the rest of the… of the group?"

"Well, as good as they can be, you will see them today, we are doing the annual reunion"

"Yes, I heard you talking about it, what is that reunion?"

"Is something we did after the fight, after we came back from Japan we were still in shock so to say and we were feeling down, especially Ranma; Cologne then got the idea of doing a homage in your name in her restaurant, it had been something all of us have done since then"

"But why? It would have been simpler to just forget about it"

"Of course not, we all own you our lives, after what you did you saved us, this future is what we own to you, never doubt that" Akane said a little more forcefully to convince Ryoga "I swear, they will be ecstatic once they find out our special guest this year" Akane finished with a giggle which rouse up Ryoga's mood a bit more.

"So, who is coming? I need to get in touch with all that is been happening so far" Ryoga said for once not knowing what to do with all the attention he was receiving from Akane and Ranma, not even in his wildest dreams he have felt like that.

"Well, Ukyo and Mousse won't take long; I already called them and they are on their way here, of course, I simply said that we had another guest tonight, I want to see their expression"

"Ukyo and Mousse? That would have been two calls isn't it?"

"Not since they are married and all" it had been a good thing that Ryoga haven't took a sip of his tea, a second later and the table would have been drenched with the surprise of Ryoga.

"That they what? How is… but… how…" Ryoga said more in shock now than before and Ranma would have teased him in the act if he weren't so happy of seeing his old rival back.

"Yeah, I was the same when Ucchan told me of her compromise with Mousse; their wedding was two years after ours" Ranma, now fully male, said while sitting at the side of Akane, his dark hair was still in the usual pigtail and a streak of grey at the side of the hair.

"But… wow"

"Yeah, you betcha P-chan, we saw them once when they were in a date at one of those fancy restaurants Akane likes so much and we couldn't believe the aura around them"

"For the fist time I think Ranma really wanted to leave them alone instead of spoiling their date"

"Yeah, just don't ask me how the hell those two tied the knot"

"What about Shampoo?"

"She married in... Korea?" Ranma asked to Akane who nodded at his husband's question, meanwhile Nodoka kept watching avidly at her parents and their very young old friend of them, space and time vortex were very interesting, if she could get a hold of the computer of Kimiko-chan and make a scan in Ryoga's body, she was grinning at the idea of finding out more about him "They are livin' in Tokyo but they're not livin' in Nerima after they opened up a new Nekohanten AND a dojo"

"Yes, she went there with her husband; let's see, who else? Oh, well, Kasumi and Nabiki are also married and very happy with their husbands, and Cologne is somewhere looking for new ingredients in Aru…Arugent…" Akane stood a couple of seconds trying to get right the word; the name of the country was always leaving her mind

"Argentina?" Ryoga asked remembering quite well the country, especially the soccer game he had seen in the stadium of Buenos Aires it seemed, he just never knew how he was one moment walking in a rural zone of China and in the next all the way up in America and inside a soccer stadium, but he met a very friendly family from México living in that city at the end of the game "wow… seems like all of you guys have a good life… I suppose I could say I'm… I'm jealous of that" Ryoga said suddenly feeling left out again, if his directional curse wasn't something bad enough now this, he was 27 years younger than all the people he had known, now everyone was married and he was alone again, even Akari was old enough to be his mother, just great; Akane saw the change in Ryoga's face, even Ranma, miraculously catch on it too, in their own happiness of finding their old friend they just didn't understood the shock of finding out that he missed 27 years, like a jump in life.

"Ry-Ryoga" Akane said trying to cheer up her friend, but it was maybe not in that way the best to help him, once Ryoga was in a deep funk few things could take him out.

"Oe, P-chan, do ya want to spar?" Ranma said while the lost-boy only smirked, why not? He had nothing to do, besides, he could see how Ranma had grown up in that aspect, but their plans had to wait a bit.

"Tadaima!" two voices said from the door.

"Well, I guess we have to introduce ya to some people first" Ranma said leaving Ryoga even more confused before two teenagers, one a very pretty girl with a rather large chest and red hair was walking inside the dinner room; she was wearing pants, a thin t-shirt it seemed and a jacket, it seemed an attire for running and training and his guess was right looking at the small tower draped around her shoulders, she seemed to be seventeen at much and her hair was kept short in a very similar fashion to the one of Nabiki, but really, she was so similar to Ranma-chan; at her side was a younger boy with dark hair, round eyes and more casual clothes, his hair was also short and was looking a little similar to Ranma, although he was taking more of Akane in his features.

"Hey Tou-san, who's the boy?" the girl said cleaning her face with the towel before glaring at Ranma "if you tell me that he is my fiancée or something like that I'll kill ya" she said making Ranma laugh a little nervous.

"Well, it seems some family traditions are still alive Ranma" Ryoga said receiving a nasty glare from the pigtailed father.

"Very funny" he said standing up and walking between the two newcomers "well, let me introduce you to the kids, she is, well, Ranko-chan, seventeen" the girl rolled her eyes while the name stirred some funny memories making Ryoga chuckle a bit.

"Yo!" the girl said acting if she like she wanted to be somewhere else.

"He is Ryoga-kun, fifteen" Ranma said placing a hand over the young boy while this one politely bowed at him.

"Is a pleasure to meet you" he said while Ranma only shrugged his shoulders at the confused look of Ryoga.

"What can I say? Take it as a little homage" he said as an explanation "And she is Nodoka-chan, but you already met her earlier" he said while the girl bowed down at him.

"Ano… is an honor to finally meet you sir, thank you very much for everything you have done for our family, I'm really grateful" she said confusing Ryoga even more, this was getting a little weird for Ryoga since he had never had people telling him something like that in his life, but before he could open his mouth and answer to her Ranko had enough.

"Alright, this is over, I'll see ya later, I'll be in the dojo if ya need me, don't start dinner without me" she said ready to walk through the door in the direction of the dojo but Ranma got an idea.

"Hey, why not first you spar with Ranko? That way I'll remember how strong you were then and check up how well she has been training?" Ranma said watching at his old pal while Ranko simply arched an eyebrow.

"Tou-san, is he even at my level? Not to hurt any feelings, but I just don't want to fight someone with less talent than me" she said crossing her arms under her chest while Ryoga simply stood looking at Ranma.

"Alright, she is your daughter, no question about it"

-----

Finally everyone was reunited in the dojo while both combatants were stretching at the middle; Ranma, Akane, Nodoka and the other Ryoga were sitting at one of the walls ready to see the match, because even Nodoka, who was not very into training and all, she had seen fights since she could remember and she couldn't deny that it was part of what she was she kinda enjoyed a good fight, but her brother was another thing, he was already watching at Ryoga and trying to discern his abilities, from the three he was the best at studying a fight.

"So, how would you like this to go Ranko-san?" he asked to the girl who was only a year younger than him, it was disconcerting to him, meanwhile the girl simply shrugged.

"If you can keep up with me then it will be anything-goes" Ranko said with a smirk on her face identical to Ranma while Ryoga only snorted, the girl seriously had an ego bigger than the one of the pigtailed man so he turned around to look at Ranma like asking the same thing.

"Whoa, the only rule is don't use any destructive technique, and that goes to you p-pal" he almost called him p-chan, that would have ruined the surprise, after all, his three sons knew all about his best friend Ryoga and how he called him and they weren't fools, if he had said it they would know about it and Ranko would have been or seriously surprised or more confident, and that was the problem, she was growing too arrogant, too cocky, she was getting a little behind her training and this could be the best to pop her balloon, just like what Ryoga did all those times years ago "alright, if both of you are ready, start now" Ranma said reclining against the wall, as much as he loved his daughter he knew she didn't had a chance in hell, and it was for her own good, heck even Akane was thinking similar to him, she was a martial artist after all.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you" Ranko said before dashing with great speed, a normal person would have never been able to see the kick coming, but Ryoga simply dodged it so casually leaving the two fighters rather surprised.

"Oe, Ranma, shouldn't she be close to your level at that age?" Ranma nodded while Ryoga shrugged, that was fast, yes, but somehow he had seen it coming and could react faster than he thought he could, Ranko for her part was shocked, how could anyone would be able to dodge her 'Eagle Dash'? But she was not going to be humiliated, she was going to make her opponent a bloody mess dashing once again at Ryoga launching a barrage of kicks and punches, again their moves were so fast while Ryoga blocked the attacks he needed while he dodged the rest being also quite surprised, he knew she was fast, heck, almost as Ranma when he was younger and in female form but this was simply ridiculous.

"I didn't know Ryoga was that good" Akane whispered to her husband looking at the one-sided fight so far.

"Me neither" he was also surprised, Ryoga's moves were more precise, his dodging ability and reaction was way up from the sparring partner of his old days, and he could still see on his mind every attack of Ryoga, every move, but this was simply amazing, how Ryoga got so fast?

"You move well, but this time I'm serious and you are going down" Ranko said preparing herself for her ultimate dashing technique while her legs were ready to spring and her fist already tightened "Ultimate Dashing! Dragon Dash!" she said ready to dash forward but Ryoga simply got a glint on his eye that only the other Ryoga caught disappearing from sight surprising everyone, the next moment he was already in front of Ranko.

'That's impossible, how Ryoga did that?!' Was in Ranma's mind before he saw Ryoga ready to attack at such a high speed, the Ryoga he remembered could have never been able to do something like that

"No guard" he simply said shocking everyone while Ranko couldn't move before she felt the rock-like fist impacting against her right side while her body was in the air for a moment with the force of the impact, a little more and her ribs would have been destroyed, she could barely stay on her feet while her hands were curled around her body once she got down, her legs shaking and her face showing the pain she felt.

"A liver blow!" the younger Ryoga said surprised at the speed the young man had showed, he had only seen his father use that kind of speed and maybe a few other martial artists he had seen his father fight, but this was also the first time someone got into her sister's defense so easily; usually she relied mostly in her speed and her dashing abilities to defeat her opponent, but due to that her defense was always a weak point, but since she was so fast doing those attacks had never been a problem… until now it seemed; that attack had been perfect, the perfect place, the perfect way to do it, the strength was also amazing, he could see that whoever the boy was he was way stronger but knew how many strength he needed in a hook like that; his sister was in deep trouble, that kind of punch used in that way in the body was devastating to the legs, the muscles contracted and in most of the cases it paralyzed the opponent, sadly that seemed to be the case.

"This is the end" Ryoga said still surprised about what was going on but deciding to finish up the fight at once.

"Raise your defense Ranko!" their father said but Ryoga already knew that it was impossible for her sister, the pain, the shock and her muscles right now weren't exactly listening to her while Ryoga moved as fast as before.

"Tora Tanjo!" Ryoga said unleashing his finisher in the form of a devastating uppercut/hook, it was a diagonally straight left punch against Ranko's chin sending her flying backwards already unconscious from the attack, the usual tiger head was also present this time.

-----

Ranma quickly checked her daughter for any serious injury from the two only attacks she got; her chin had a very big bruise and was already purple but by tomorrow it would have disappeared, but the one at her side was another story; her ribs were okay, nothing broken, but the damage had been considerable and she would need to relax tomorrow to heal; that had been a very good attack, it rendered useless Ranko's principal weapon, her legs, be it kicks and speed, also, she just didn't had good defense and against Ryoga blocking wasn't the option; really, pig-boy did a very good job defeating his daughter.

"Is she okay?" the boy asked while Ranma turned around to see him, a worried expression in his face; heck, leave it to p-chan getting all worried about an opponent, but it was very well, honorable; unlike Ranma, Ryoga didn't had a father who was constantly drilling into his brain he couldn't fight girls, Ryoga only saw an opponent once he was in the fight, but that didn't mean he enjoyed fighting a girl, especially hurting her.

"Nah, don't worry P-chan, she'll be fine" Ranma said before a perky voice was added to the talk.

"Wow! That was amazing! I never saw someone defeat Ranko that fast before! What a speed, and what an attack, you just countered her so fast she couldn't do a thing!" a young girl with dark hair and glasses said from the door to the garden moving her hands like a hummingbird… who was high in sugar, the girl seemed very fast by the way she was talking and moving her arms like if she was punching something, probably repeating the fight in her mind.

"Hey Miki-chan, where are your parents?" Akane said more relaxed now that they saw their daughter was okay.

"Oh, they were behind me the last time I saw them" Miki said with a surprised face, like she had forgotten completely of that, she seemed to be the same age of Saotome Ryoga and completely hyperactive.

"Miki-chan! How many times do I have to tell you to not simply run away? You need to have more patience?" Ryoga winced at that voice and that intonation, usually for him it was followed by a really hard hit from a mega-spatula.

"Gomen-ne Okaa-san" the girl said bowing her head while in that moment a woman dressed… well, dressed like herself, jeans and a rather stylish green t-shirt appeared at one side the side of Miki "is just that I wanted to see Ranko-chan and Nodoka-chan, but I saw a very good fight instead, it was so great, that boy is really strong"

"What boy?" Here we go again Ryoga thought while Ukyo's face changed from shock to happiness in the same way that Akane did "Ryoga-kun! You're back!"

"Aaaah!" maybe it wasn't a word but that was all he could say before he was a victim of a very strong glomp.

-----

"Sorry" Ukyo said laughing a bit a little embarrassed by her actions sooner, especially at the surprised look of her daughter who didn't even had a clue of why her mother, who by all means wasn't precisely so… exuberant in her actions except cooking and fighting, could act like that when she saw that boy? Things also got very interesting when Miki's father appeared a couple of seconds later and saw his wife hugging the life out of a boy and couldn't decide if he should feel jealousy or confusion and until he heard the voice of a very familiar martial artist and decided to detach his wife from their old friend before he died from asphyxiation "Is just that, well, Akane told us we were going to have a special guest, but I didn't knew it was going to be this special sugar"

Ukyo said making Ryoga see how much she have changed; she was a very real woman now, not a hint from her usual tomboyish style, yeah, her clothes weren't dresses and frills, but her jeans were hugging her hips like if they were designed for that and her shirt was also obviously from the women's department, yep, she have grown into a very stunning WOMAN, with capital letters; looking at teh left side of Ukyowho was sitting at the table was another martial artist he knew well; they have spend quite sometime between fighting Ranma to know each other from time to time; he had also changed, although his hair was the same, just a little shorter, his glasses were tinier and more stylish, in fact, all of his clothes were stylish with a button-up white shirt, a light black jacket, formal pants and shoes, he seemed to be taken directly from a magazine cover, really, Ukyo probably was the receiver of very death glares due to her husband.

"Yeah, if it weren't you who was dying from having the air taken out from your lungs I would have attacked you in that instant" Mousse said making Ukyo blush remembering her outburst.

"Yes, eh, sorry Ryoga-kun is just that…"

"Hey, no problem, really, it was okay, I'm getting used to that whole thing about me alive and you very happy, ah… so, you guys…"

"Yes, we are married" Mousse said knowing well Ryoga and knowing his nervous lapses with asking certain questions "and she is Miki-chan, she is our daughter, she goes to the school of Ryoga… well, the other Ryoga" Mousse said not knowing how to call them now.

"Hello, I'm Miki, but you can call me Miki-chan! That was great, you need to show me how you did that, that was fantastic!" the girl begun rambling again making Nodoka and Ryoga-kun sigh knowing well their friend "and then you did this and then that thing and boom and Ranko was flying! You are awesome!" she said standing so close to Ryoga he was beginning to blush from her words, really, her glasses were so big he couldn't see well her face, but that close to him he could see her and needed to be sincere, the girl was simply gorgeous, at fifteen she was very much a new version of Ukyo, but with dark hair much like Mousse, her eyes were bigger and so bright and her face was a little less rounder than Ukyo, and also, well, the glasses simply made her look even cuter, definitely, she was beautiful and in a year or two she could become a real knock-out.

"Ah well, I, eh" Ryoga's body was simply put stiff with how nervous he was, except in one part thank goodness, that would have been extremely embarrassing, but he had never had such attention from a girl… excepting Ranma in one of his usual cross-dressing adventures.

"Miki-chan, back off a bit, Ryoga is about to collapse from nervousness, what have been telling you about getting so close to other people?" Ukyo went back to the maternal mode he had seen before.

"That I need to be less euphoric and be calm when I'm talking to people I just met" Miki said obviously chastised and returning to her seat with a slight blush in her face, things were returning to the usual talk about the present when the younger Ryoga got up seeing directly at Ryoga.

"Hey, now I know why I felt I have seen you, you are the one in the photo at the shrine, you are Hibiki Ryoga… THE Hibiki Ryoga, you are Ryoga-sama!" Saotome Ryoga said making Miki raise up too.

"You mean he is Ryoga-sama!? Is that true?" he said turning to her parents while this nodded at her, she then stood up with a serious face and walked in front of Ryoga kneeling seiza style "Ryoga-sama" she said while he stood there waiting for whatever the girl was going to do, it was a challenge? Or maybe something worst, heck, she was maybe part of the Amazons, anything could happen with them, but in that exact moment a small notebook and a pen appeared in Miki´s hands while she bowed slightly "can I have your autograph?" she asked making the other seven people facefault at her words.

"Leave it to Miki-chan to say something like that" Saotome Ryoga said rising up like the rest of his family, Ryoga meanwhile only blinked getting up still a little surprised.

"Autograph? Eh, sure, why not" he said writing his name in the notebook while Miki seemed to be bouncing happily getting back to her seat.

"Well, I guess that explains how easy you defeated my sister, heck, she is gonna be shocked once she knows" Saotome Ryoga said with a small grin on his face.

"And I'm sure you'll be the one who'll tell her that" Nodoka-chan said knowing well her brother.

"Ah, right… eh… how've you been?" Ryoga said slightly wincing realizing how stupid he must have sound, but Mousse and Ukyo simply smiled a little bit more.

"Well, we have been okay, since that day you could say it shook us really strong, to see one of our… well, friends sacrifice himself for us, it was a mayor hit, it made us think about our life" Mousse said before his wife went on.

"Yeah, I guess I was a complete month hoping that the next time the door was opened at Ucchan's it was going to be you there with your usual lost expression and your backpack asking for an okonomiyaki" Ukyo continued with a sad smile on her face "Not long after that Ranchan and Akane were beginning to take their relationship serious, little by little the shock was fading and we went trying to live the same way we had already been living, but something was wrong; every time I… well… I tried to make Ranma more interested in his… eh, 'cute fiancée' I just didn't felt the same" she said with a small blush seemingly embarrassed of that nickname "suddenly I saw your image and remembered what you did and once again I was thrown to reality… in a way it made me open up my eyes and realize there was no more battle to marry Ranma"

"Of course, we had to make Tatewaki and Kodachi realize that, it wasn't easy, but something similar to Ukyo happened with me, I was being more serious and I stopped being so… well…"

"Romantically pathetic?" Ranma said gaining a boxing glove attached to a spring that appeared magically from under one of Mousse's jacket sleeves.

"As I was saying, little by little we were changing and me and Ukyo started to talk about our lives and realized we were similar, both lonely, both away from our house, going behind a dream that was fading, I guess that's why we started to fell in love"

"And two years after this pair got married we did, and now we have little Miki her; if you want to know I still have my restaurant and you are welcome anytime, I'll prepare you a special okonomiyaki"

"Thanks Ukyo… and… well… congratulations I guess, just a bit late… ah… what about Konatsu?" Ryoga asked remembering the kunoichi always working with Ukyo.

"Oh, she is fine, although she is not living here in Nerima, she has a tea house close to the Nekohanten" Ukyo said making Ryoga arch an eyebrow.

"She?"

"Jusenkyo" Mousse shrugged "don't ask from where she got both water from the Nyannichuan AND the Chisuiton, the only thing we know is that she took care of that and is safe" Mousse said finishing that.

"Okay… and… what do you do Mousse?"

"Me? I'm just the humble owner of one of Japan's most famous fighting promotions" at the blank face of Ryoga he continued "that means that basically every tournament or fighting that you'll see announced we are making it and promoting it, is a good job, I don't really have to fight, I just search for good fighters and we help them get in the fighting world; just now in a month is the biggest tournament in the year in Japan and is going to be here in Nerima, fighters of all around the world will come, why don't you think about joining?" Ukyo simply shook her head at her husband's way of talking and how he went back to his job, but he seemed so confident like that… and gorgeous with his clothes.

"I'll think about it… a tournament eh? That sounds good, why not? I need to see what is capable of doing this generation" he said feeling some of his usual fire coming back to life thinking about who he could fight there, a new wave of fighters he had never seen before, new techniques, new challenges, he was still young so to say, he could still grow up so much, and now he didn't had Ranma, he was older, with more experience, now probably needed a new opponent, why not dozens? If Mousse was right then he was at the perfect moment for his return; heck, he just defeated an unbeatable demon, he was capable of everything now.

"Yeah, seeing you fight again is going to be so great, and fighting you now will be great, men, what did Cologne taught you before that demon's fight? That was way better speed than the usual from you, you usually were slower and relied more in your endurance, now you didn't even wait for Ranko to attack, you countered, I never saw you doing something like that" Ranma said still thinking about the dash his old friend did, he got some techniques from Cologne at the time, but it was more to refine his already existent techniques.

"That is because he learned the twelve celestial houses" they all turned around to see a small wrinkled old lady with green Chinese clothing with a staff in one hand standing at the threshold of the dinning room.

"Cologne"

"Elder Cologne"

"Cologne-sama!"

"Grandma!"

"Old hag!" the first to talk was Ryoga followed by Mousse then Akane, Miki and finally Ranma which got a hit at the head with the staff from the quick moves of the matriarch.

"You never change Ranma, but look who we have here; Ryoga, it has been such a long time since we saw you, but maybe a day or two for you, is good to see you alive my boy" She said letting out her usual laughter seemingly very pleased "I knew you were strong, but to be able to kill that demon is something that leaves me very proud, and even if the demon was weakened from the spell it must have been a very close fight"

"So he really killed the demon then, no wonder he is free from the jail" Mousse said really surprised from the power of Ryoga, really, if he decided to be in the tournament things would be very interesting.

"What do you mean with those twelve celestial houses old hag?" Ranma said rubbing his head, that attack had been very good, the matriarch was as powerful as ever.

"They are, as their name indicate, twelve techniques, each one focusing in a different force and with a Chinese zodiac animal as the symbol of it"

"Tora Tanjo! What you did with Ranko, that must have been one of them, right P-chan?"

"Don't call me that… and yes, it was one of those"

"Tiger's birth… interesting, you learned them all in so little time?" Mousse said surprised of that, how powerful Ryoga was if that was true?

"Well, yeah, I had no choice seeing that our lives were at a stake at the moment" Ryoga said while Ranma was thinking similar to Mousse, just with a slight variation.

"No Ranma, you cannot learn those techniques unless Ryoga wants to, he is the only user of the celestial houses now" Cologne said knowing very well her once almost son-in-law before this one ducked his head receiving that answer.

"Oh, come on, there must be some old scroll somewhere that I could read about it"

"Just like with the Shishi-hokodan?" Ryoga asked looking at Ranma meanwhile this only laughed nervous at that memory "sorry to tell you this, but the scrolls are now dust; when Cologne gave me the scroll she said I had few time to memorize them, there was a spell that was activated once it was opened which made the scroll self-destruct after 48 hours; I could only learn right the first steps of the Tora Tanjo and the Ryu Sempu, all the other information is up here, but I still need to train in the other ten, and not only that, I have to master them"

"Wow, seems like you'll have some serious training to do, men, that brings some memories"

"You used boxing" all turned around to see at Saotome Ryoga who was deep in thought "you only used simple boxing and then you did that technique, but it looks very similar to a boxing attack called The Smash"

"That's right; you know a lot of that" Ryoga said surprised at the boy's knowledge.

"Well, that's because I try to learn everything I can, is anything-goes after all" he said shrugging his shoulders at Ryoga who simply chuckled, that boy had some potential in that aspect, if he was following the steps of his father and had his abilities that boy could grow stronger than him, maybe.

"Yes, the Tora Tanjo is something like an uppercut although only in the first step, that's how you learn it first so you can develop the real form of the technique; what I did was simply to change the attack to a Smash-like attack increasing the damage turning it into a finisher, although the first time I used the technique I did it in the form of a short uppercut using the strength of my legs to impulse myself up doing a Gazelle Punch3, something I saw once in a boxing match from a guy called Ippo4" in the few things he was confident about himself was his martial artist ability, and everyone was after all a martial artist there because all of them were looking at him with serious and absorved expressions.

"I see that you did a very good job altering the attack to suit you, very much like Ranma, but I guess that from the beginning you two had similar basics in your style, to use the techniques you mastered and adapting them to your style, well done Ryoga" Cologne said eyeing him critically, seeing inside of him and watching how much the boy had changed since his fight.

'The boy hasn't realized yet, but he will find out about the power he now has, destroying the demon made all that energy to reside inside of him, probably he will wake up parts of that power little by little, indeed, the new generation would help him achieve his full potential in no time, I'm glad I came back, things are going to be interesting once again in Nerima'

"My head" a redhead said getting inside the dinner hall holding her aching head, a very big bruise in her chin was present while she was watching around at all the people reunited there.

"Ranko-chan! Do you have a head-ache?" the perky voice of Miki-chan made Ranko wince sitting down at the other side of the table.

"Well, I think ya'll have to train harder from now on Ranko" Ranma said trying hard not to smirk at the lesson her daughter just had, no wonder Ryoga was stronger now, if he defeated a demon it was no surprise the spar between those two; Ranko for her part simply threw a death glare at the boy who defeated her with only two attacks, she just wanted to rip off his head after the humiliation but knew better than to do that, they had guests and that boy was simply too strong for her.

"Sis, I think you were never introduced well"

"Shut up Ryoga" she said at her brother, she was pissed off right now but her brother had other ideas.

"Saotome Ranko, let me introduce you to the famous demon-destroyer, Nerima Wrecking Crew founding member and biggest rival of Tou-san, Hibiki Ryoga!" he said feeling like a fighter announcer, heck, he had seen too much of that when he went with Mousse-san at his work; for her part Ranko simply stood a second confused before her eyes widened up completely watching at the bandana-wearing boy.

"Ry-Ry-Ry-Ryoga…sama?"

-----

Ranko was really tempted to smash her head against the wall for being such an idiot, but knew better than to do that, her head was injured enough, but really, it was so obvious why she lost, she had never been able to defeat her father, why then she would have been able to defeat Ryoga-sama? From all the people that her father had fought no rival compared to Ryoga in his stories, maybe Saffron, but that had been only a fight; with Ryoga both grew up fighting, becoming stronger at every fight, pushing their own limits.

Since she started to train in the family combined Art she wanted to surpass her father, but for that she had first to surpass Ryoga as the best rival, no matter who he fought, Ryoga was always the best partner and rival her father had; once she was in High School she begun to train harder, but no one of her school could defeat her, she was maybe… getting too arrogant and now this; how much of an idiot she was that she didn't recognized the person she wanted to surpass? But it had been a very good eye opener for her, she still had a lot to learn, heck, if he defeated her with only two attacks how strong he was now?

All those thoughts were lost to the rest of the people reunited in the Saotome-Tendo Dojo while food seemed to appear from somewhere followed by drinks and tea, the last for the young ones, and Ryoga was right now talking with… well, shampoo's husband.

"Well, I just… cannot believe it is you" Ryoga said looking at the dirty-blond short haired man next to him while they were sitting down at the dinner hall with the rest of the crew and kids there.

"Is that really such a surprise?"

"Of course, I never thought you were going to listen to me"

"Do you two know each other?" the purple haired amazon asked in what seemed to be perfect Japanese, she too had grown up great, she was a woman now, a very beautiful woman wearing one of her usual Chinese dresses, this time it was a red and golden one.

"Well, yes; one time I got lost and ended in… well, South Korea" Ryoga said still a little embarrassed about his ability to get lost at every corner "I went to a Tae Kwon Do dojo and I saw Alex here having a sparring match, a very short one mind you, one kick and his opponent was down; once he saluted his partner he saw me and introduced himself in Japanese; we talked a bit and we decided to spar"

"Yeah, he practically kicked my ass then"

"Come on, we were evenly matched, I just got a lucky shot; anyway, after that we talked a bit more and told him that if he wanted to fight other strong people he could go to Nerima, that was like three months before the demon escaped"

"So, now not only I have to thank you for what you did then, practically saving or lives, now I also have to thank you from convincing my husband to come to Nerima" Shampoo said hugging his husband by the waist, close to the koi pond in front of Ryoga and them where Saotome Ryoga talking with a younger version of Alex with round eyes just like Shampoo, and they seemed more than ready to spar a little at the attentive looks of Miki and Nodoka.

"I see, so how you two, well…"

"I think it was because when I came here I wanted to have a fight with Ranma and he told me about you… it was very sad and we decided to spar a bit, of course, he won; after that we both become friends and I got to knew about the whole thing of the curses and engagements in his life; it seemed too much for a single guy and I wanted to help him in some way so I went to the Nekohanten the next day and got into a slight trouble, it seemed that Shampoo was angry at something and took bad the way I asked her to stop what she was doing with Ranma and the engagement"

"Of course I was angry, it was my amazon pride and at that time I was still denying that Ranma and Akane were a pair, that put me a little crazy and more than ready to attack someone before thinking, great grandmother stood more than an hour scolding me for what I did… of course, after I woke up and kissed my new husband"

"Kiss of marriage?" Ryoga asked before Alex nodded.

"Yep, at the moment I knew nothing of that, although Cologne gave me a book after she saw what was going on; I was only defending myself, is just that my reflexes did the job doing a Black Cat kick against Shampoo"

"Once I did that, which by the time it was more because great grandmother ordered me to do it I was more than angry with him for defeating me, but seemed that he was as adamant as me with that law; at first we couldn't stand each other until Alex just tried to talk me out of it, which just did the opposite"

"Hey, I didn't wanted to force you into something you didn't wanted, how was I supposed to know I was hitting your amazon pride?"

"Well, it was my pride as a woman and amazon after all, who those days didn't wanted to marry me? With the exception of Ranma of course; so, seeing that there was someone rejecting me even stronger than Ranma made me do the opposite"

"Reverse psychology without even noticing; so you two at the end really fell in love and are now married"

"Resuming it, yes, I bet you didn't saw this one coming Ryoga" Alex said before Ryoga only shook his head with a smile on his face standing up and walking to the koi pong leaving the married couple talking about something.

Ryoga felt strange, now the age gap between his old friends was so big that he felt out once again, like a stranger in a stranger land, he just didn't knew how to react to that, it was too much of a shock and the only one who was the same was Cologne because definitely, the old matriarch couldn't look older without turning into dust.

"Eh… excuse me" Ryoga turned at his side to look a nervous Ranko "well… I want to tell ya that…" she said before crossing her arms under her chest "I want to tell ya that next time I will win!" she said a little too strong while a blush appearing across her cheeks and nose.

"What a rotten liar, just say the truth, just say you like him and kiss him" Michael, the son of Alex and Shampoo said before the redhead rubbed her knuckles in his head.

"Ya don't butt in into other people's conversation!" she said while the new generation stood close looking at the spectacle, none of them had changed a bit, in that precise moment Miki got closer to them too with a glass of water in her hands and once again the Jusenkyo gods came to live when the girl tripped over something, probably a shadow and the water felt over only one person.

"Au, I'm fine, I'm fine" Miki said more than used to tripping over and things like that but everyone was so silent.

"Well, Jusenkyo, I guess Tou-san was right about this after all" Ranko said while everyone stood looking at the small black piglet with a bandana around his neck, Ryoga simply made a piggy sigh cursing again whoever deity was laughing at him enjoying his suffering.

"Such a cute piggy!" Miki said trying to grab him just like many other girls in his life but right now he knew that with her energy he could be completely crushed, a feral instinct told him to get away fast!

"Hey, Miki! Careful!" Michael said before being pushed aside by her almost falling at the koi pong.

"Wait up a minute Miki! That's Ryoga-sama!"

"Nodoka-chan, be careful! You know how Miki is! Somebody stop her!"

"Already in that Otouto!" the different voices of the young boys and girls were coming from the garden with the occasional bwee or other piggy sound while Ranma only grinned at what seemed to be a complete chaos, it was music to his ears.

"What is going on?" Akane asked her husband.

"Oh, nothing much, only Miki trying to catch P-chan and this one running from her as fast as he can"

"Poor Ryoga, do you think we should save him before she squeeze the life out of him?"

"Nah, let them play a bit; I'm still wondering how you knew that Ryoga was P-chan all this time"

"Ranma, I'm not stupid, besides, you were acting so jealous after the times P-chan was around that it was too fun to see" Akane said kissing her husband; the other adults were very interested in the race, that brought some very fond memories.

-----

Ryoga was once again in known territory, the roof of the dojo watching the moon while everyone else was or asleep or not bothering him and leaving him only with the silence; with a bit of effort he could imagine that he was right back where everything started, that Ranma and Akane weren't married and they were still bickering, that no one was married in fact, but he knew it was useless, not because he wished for that it was going to be true, so many times it had been like that.

But… but there was still something; he still had to learn all of the techniques in that scroll, he had that tournament close, new enemies, new friends, it was a new life, there was no bindings, no mistakes, it was really a new life for him, he had his friends with him and a new life.

For the first time in years Ryoga knew that the chance to real happiness was at his reach, he just had to stretch his hand this time, nothing could stop him now… well, with the exception of the rain that started to pour down on him; really, a piglet didn't had a quiet life, but at least it wasn't boring Ryoga thought with a piggy grin on his face.

-----

What are the rest of the techniques Ryoga still tries to master?

What could happen at the tournament?

Will Ryoga be lucky with one girl of the new generation?

With who Nabiki and Kasumi are married and if they had kids who they are?

There's a lot of questions so far, and maybe just the reviews of people will make them come out at the light.

**1: Tora Tanjo: Literally means Tiger's Birth**

**2: Ryu Sempu: Or Dragon's Storm.**

**3: Gazelle Punch: This one is a real boxing technique, you can see it in the anime and manga Hajime no Ippo.**

**4: Makenouchi Ippo: The main character of Hajime no Ippo, a very good boxer with an in-fighter style and the peek-a-boo defense who also used Mike Tyson, he has some similarities with Ryoga which are strength, endurance, spirit and complete nervousness with women and very shy except while fighting.**


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